So recently I was on a road trip, and my travels had taken me to the communist republic of Illinois. After just having survived motoring through East St Louis, I had pulled off the highway to relieve myself and get a bottle of water. While I was in the gas station, there was a local cop with a traffic stop taking place in the gas station parking lot. I'm driving the red 2005 mustang, with Cali plates, and there is an unmarked police vehicle behind the local black and white. I think nothing of it, and proceed to make a right turn as there is an island preventing me from making a left to return to the Interstate. Always using signals and obeying the speed limit, I find a parking lot that has an exit to a controlled intersection with a signal where I can turn left and get back to the interstate

I get back on the interstate, lock in the cruise control at the limit and settle in. I signal, move left to pass a slower vehicle, and I notice the unmarked behind me a ways back. I pass, signal and return to the right lane of the two lane highway

The unmarked passes me and pulls ahead. A short time later, I repeat the pass procedure. Unmarked slows down and is now behind me off my left quarter. Another pass, using signals, unmarked drops back a little more. Then he pulls ahead of me. Then he drops back again. I pass an RV towing a car, and as soon as there is room for him to get behind and light me up, he does. I was fully expecting it after having watched him reel me in, let me out, reel me in for 15 miles

This did not take place at 10:58 PM as noted on the document, he checked the wrong box. As far as I could tell, the unmarked was part of a drug interdiction unit. All of the cars I saw stopped by a number of these vehicles in Illinois all had out of state plates. I was profiled for having Cali plates. You've seen me, I'm an OFWG not some drug/gun runner. Holy fuck, Batman! Sure glad that close to East St Louis there isn't real crime to fight

Obviously your mad and crazy antics involving hammering past people over and over again in your hot rod red 3.8, V6 Mustang, were too much for him after you showed no respect for him when he was stalking you. I am sure that he knew for sure that you were some crazed California drug runner all hopped up on drugs. But, a warning citation was almost an admission that he was just fishing when he pulled you over as I expect that such a citation means nothing. In retrospect, you should have given him the crawl by not passing and then waiting to see what excuse he could come up with to make a righteous stop.

But, in fairness, the California CHP is not acting any better when it comes to their maximum enforcement programs, although I am confident that they would completely ignore your daily driver unless you were really speeding. But, they would stop a bike for almost anything that they could come up with. So, profiling depends upon circumstances, and, you are a pretty shady looking character.

Pretty crappy I think. I was stopped so many times over the years that I always assume that I am going to get stopped. And I still react. The pulse rate goes up a little, some tension sets in. Down here, I have only been stopped 5 times -- once a year -- and my gringo viejo loco act (or no act) has worked well and I have neither visited the jail nor paid any fines. That is until I got sideways with immigration. Immigration is busting me up pretty well. There is a tiny fear of deportation because I have really pissed them off, and in some cases they confiscate property. I have been assured that I would win in court, but the legal process here often results in a person's wallet being a lot lighter. Right now I have been asked to not leave Mexico, and they have my passport and entry documents. It did not help when I made them sign a paper saying they have it.

John, another thing they like to do in these "drug" fishing cases is civil forfeiture. If you just so happened to have been carrying a large amount of cash with you, for whatever reason (say to buy a car), they could seize it, and say it was to be used for illicit activities. It happens A LOT in this once great country, and is very unfortunate. A lot of states/counties follow this practice to steal money from law abiding citizens. They even try to use it on other property, up to and including houses. Our country is going bananas. It's the wild west with paved streets, and a bunch of fancy electronic gadgets.